"Many things we need can wait. The child cannot. Now is the time his bones are formed, his mind developed. To him we cannot say tomorrow, his name is today." - Gabriela Mistral

Monday, February 1, 2010

Today is Day One

Metaphorically speaking, that is. I have not found the time to post recently, so the "real" Day One was actually 4 days ago. Day One was the new diet start date for Little A. No casein. No gluten will follow, but I'd rather do one thing at a time and see what works.

A fortnight has gone by since we took Little A to another developmental pediatrician for a second opinion. She was quick and frank in her assessment and diagnosis - Autism Spectrum Disorder. Our first dev ped had said "Communication Disorder," but this was just apparently another way of saying the same thing. And since we've already begun twice weekly occupational therapy, there is little else we can do now, except try the diets. The most common is the GFCF one, but other options are the Candida diet and SCD.

Thanks to the Internet and my photographic memory, I am now learning all I can about ASD in as little time as possible. Big A says he knew deep inside that this is what was different about Little A, and I suppose a part of me knew it too, as long before we even began to suspect anything, I had already stored literature on the vaccines and autism link, and showed them to my husband, who promptly refused to let Little A get his MMR jabs.

Both dev peds admit that Little A shows few stereotypies. Hyperactivity, yes. Hand flapping and other actions that fall under stimming, not noticeably. He likes to rock as much as the average child, and does not spin things obsessively. I have a friend who constantly pulls her hair out and others with their own little habits.

There were, however, red flags that we were never told about.Not pointing, pulling to show, these were things I thought were cute. In fact, I even thought that his not pointing would save me from later having me to teach him that pointing is rude, even if it is natural. The texture sensitivity and his intolerance of loud and crowded places that made going to children's parties impossible we just put down to natural quirkiness as there are many non-autistic children who don't like mud or sand or noise.

Still, it is official now. So, again metaphorically speaking, this is day one. All we can do is work with him, try what we can, and pray that the interventions work quickly and effectively. The rest is up to Little A.

Thank you, Judy. I think that's mainly the problem - though autism is relatively "old," dating back to the 1940s, there is little education on it. It would be a much better world if we all knew as much about it as was known about other learning disabilities.